www.skylineonline.comGaelic Storm is, left to right, Steve Twigger, Jessie Burns, Ryan Lacey, Patrick Murphy and Pete Purvis. The group will perform at the 2008 Michigan Irish Music Festival on Saturday and Sunday.

Many years ago -- before the fame, before the hectic touring schedule, before their appearance in the movie "Titanic" -- Patrick Murphy and Steve Twigger, two of the founding members of the band Gaelic Storm, made a pact.

• In 2006, the group's sixth album, "Bring Yer Wellies," debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard World Chart and No. 31 on the Independent Album Chart.

• And this year, the band's latest album, "What's the Rumpus?" debuted at No. 1 on the World Album Chart.

Nor is this the first time the band has raised the figurative roof at Heritage Landing.

The last time the band was in Muskegon, the nation was reeling from the events of Step. 11, 2001. The band's performance in "Titanic" still was recent enough to create a worldwide buzz.

Seven years later, there has been time enough for both band and host festival to change.

"We were a much smaller festival then," said Tom Schaub, entertainment director for the Michigan Irish Music Festival. "And they were much smaller artists. Now we've both grown."

Schaub calls Gaelic Storm "the most sought-after band on the Irish music festival circuit." He goes so far as to compare the band to another legendary music group.

"They've kind of done what the Clancy Brothers were doing back in the day," Schaub said, referring to the Irish folk group of the '60s credited with popularizing traditional Irish music in the United States. "They took Celtic music and made it mainstream."

As a founding member of the band, Twigger has 12 years' perspective to gauge Gaelic Storm's development.

"We've been writing our own music for the past 10 years," Twigger said in a telephone interview. Early on, he said, the band was doing standard and traditional material.

"It's very gratifying. Other bands are now covering our material," he said. "We just released a new CD called 'What's the Rumpus?' and weeks later, the audiences are singing the words back to us. They know the lyrics better than we do."

Chronicle file photoGaelic Storm will return to the Michigan Irish Music Festival Saturday and Sunday.

Strong writing is one of the band's hallmarks. Energy and chemistry are two more. The latter elements are natural outgrowths of Gaelic Storm's origins as a pub band.

"We're such a tightknit group -- we get along really well," Twigger said.

As for the band's musical energy, Twigger said, that, too, "comes from the origin of the band. It sort of grew out of the friendship that grew out of the pub."

The band came together when Murphy and Steve Wehmeyer joined with Twigger and Brian Walsh to play at O'Brien's Irish Pub and Restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. Murphy was manager there.

"We were probably the only band in L.A. that didn't want to become famous," Twigger said. "Literally we just wanted to get up on stage, drink a few beers and have fun."

But fame found them.

The band's rambunctious energy caught the attention of "Titanic" musical supervisor Randy Gertson when he and the film's director, James Cameron, decided to place a group of Irish musicians as travelers aboard the ship in the movie's screenplay.

After that, the telephone began ringing off the hook, Twigger said.

Today the band conducts a furious touring schedule, playing more than 125 dates a year. Murphy, originally of Cork City, Ireland, and Twigger, who grew up in Coventry, England, are the sole active founding members.

Band members travel widely, playing such dates as Milwaukee's Irish Fest, the Celtic-Fest in Chicago, the Pittsburgh Irish Festival and the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, France, trailing critical successes behind them like some musically adept Johnny Appleseed.

Gaelic Storm performs "Born to be a bachelor."

In Dublin -- that's Dublin, Ohio, where the community's annual Irish Festival draws thousands -- Gaelic Storm had the faithful lining up like motorists at the Secretary of State's office.

"We had a huge crowd at our festival," said Sandy Puskarcik, assistant to the director for the Dublin Ohio Irish Music Fest. "Everybody just loves them. I know people got there early just to get a seat."

The band retains a healthy respect for the Celtic tradition. Its repertoire still includes traditional Irish and Scottish music in both the traditional Celtic and Celtic rock genres.

At the same time, the band manages to tell its own stories, Twigger said. Its original tunes include Patrick Murphy's "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe." The song is based on a true story -- or not, depending on whether you believe Murphy's account or Crowe's denial. The final cut on the group's most recent album, the song recounts Murphy's tale of an encounter with the Australian actor when Murphy worked as a bartender.

Of course, there's more than humor in the group's writing. There's serious musicianship as well, which manifests itself in diverse influences and instrumentation. Instruments range from Irish bagpipes, bouzouki and spoons to Celtic fiddle, Cajun-style accordions and African drums.